Editing Diego de Almagro (section)

== Early years ==
[[File:Escudo de Diego de Almagro.svg|left|80px|thumb|Shield of Diego de Almagro]]
The origins of Diego de Almagro were humble. He was born in 1475 in the village of [[Almagro, Ciudad Real|Almagro]] or in [[Malagón]],<ref name="MAL"></ref> in [[Province of Ciudad Real|Ciudad Real]], where he was given the name of the village for his surname as he was the illegitimate son of Juan de Montenegro and Elvira Gutiérrez. In order to preserve the honor of his mother, her relatives took the infant Diego to the nearby town of [[Bolaños de Calatrava]], where he was raised by Sancha López del Peral, later moving to [[Aldea del Rey]].

At the age of four he returned to Almagro, and was placed under the tutelage of an uncle named Hernán Gutiérrez.  At age fifteen he ran away from home because of his uncle's harshness. He went to the home of his mother, who was now living with her new husband, to tell her what had happened and that he was going to travel the world, and asked for some bread.  His mother, anguished, gave him a piece of bread and some coins and said: ''"Take, son, and do not give me more trouble, and go, and God help you in your adventure."''

He went to [[Seville]] and after probably stealing to survive, Almagro became a ''criado'' or servant of [[Don (honorific)|Don]] Luis Gonzalez de Polanco, one of the four ''[[Alcalde|Alcaldes de la Casa y Corte de Su Majestad]]'' and later a [[Council of Castile|Counselor]] of the [[Catholic Monarchs]]. While living in Seville, Almagro stabbed another servant in an argument, inflicting serious enough injuries that he was to be tried in court.

Don Luis, using his influence, prevailed upon Don [[Pedro Arias Dávila]] to allow Almagro to embark in one of the ships going to the [[New World]] from the port of [[Sanlúcar de Barrameda|Sanlucar de Barrameda]]. The [[Casa de Contratación|Casa de Contratacion]] (royal agency for the [[Spanish Empire]]) required that the men who crossed the Atlantic provide their own weapons, clothes, and farming tools, which Don Polanco provided to his servant.{{clearleft}}